The stops a five-day charter keeps, in the order the boat meets them

Eleven names make up the long charter, and they come in clusters of three or four per day, so no single day asks a family to do everything at once. Eight have a page of their own. Each gets a sentence.

• Sebayur or Siaba is the first snorkel, with an easy reef and a mild current.
• Taka Makassar is a crescent sandbank in shallow reef, and it shows mainly at low tide.
• Manta Point is a reef in the central park where the current decides who swims.
• Padar is the ridge walk to a viewpoint over three bays.
• Pink Beach is a pale pink sand beach with reef close to the shore.
• Komodo Island is the ranger-led walk from the Loh Liang station.
• Kalong is a mangrove islet where the flying foxes leave at dusk.
• Kelor is the short, steep hill on the last morning.

Pengah, Rinca and Manjarite have no page of their own. They are stops by name: Pengah follows Komodo on the third day of the sample, Rinca and Manjarite share the fourth. Rinca is a ranger-led walk like Komodo, on the park's second-largest island.

The three-day route is the one with a fixed stop list. Day one is Sebayur or Siaba, Taka Makassar, Manta Point and Padar. Day two is Pink Beach, Komodo, Pengah and Kalong. Kelor and Manjarite fill day three, with the boat docking again between 11:00 and 12:00.

The longer routes are samples. They are built from the same stops, with Rinca added. Four days add a day of Rinca and Manjarite, with Kelor on the fourth morning. Five days spread the stops so that no day carries more than a cluster: water on day one, Padar and Pink Beach on day two, Komodo, Pengah and Kalong on day three. Six days give Sebayur or Siaba a light first day to itself.

The two-day sample keeps Taka Makassar, Manta Point and Padar for day one, then Pink Beach and Komodo before the return. No sample promises an order. None. Final order rests with the captain, and our written confirmation reaches you ahead of payment.